Join over 100 endorsing organizations in calling on the 120th Congress to reestablish the House Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. Children make up nearly a quarter of the nation's population, yet they have no dedicated committee in Congress looking at how federal policies affect their lives as a whole.
First Focus on Children’s 2026 Children’s Budget Summit explored the precipitous decline in the share of federal investment in the nation’s babies and children and introduced findings from both our 2026 Children’s Budget and Babies in the Budget reports. The summit featured remarks and research from experts and scholars on why investment matters for America’s children and what we as a country can — and should — be doing about it.
Children’s Budget 2026 examines federal spending across more than 250 programs to reveal chronic underfunding of our nation's children. For the fifth straight year, lawmakers cut kids' share of the budget to just 8.43% in FY 2026, down over 30% since FY 2022. That share would drop to 7.90% under President Trump’s proposed FY 2027 budget.
Babies in the Budget 2026 examines federal spending across roughly 150 programs to reveal a steep drop in support for children under 3. Lawmakers devoted just 1.67% of the FY 2026 federal budget to babies, down from over 2% in FY 2021. That share would shrink even further to just $1.61 per $100 under President Trump’s proposed FY 2027 budget.
As Congress organizes itself for 2027, we invite your organization to join more than 100 national, state, and local…
Children’s policy spans more than a dozen standing committees, leaving no single panel responsible for tracking the whole picture…
Babies Face Chronic Underfunding by Lawmakers Just 1.67% of the federal budget goes to babies The federal government spends…
Just 8.43% of the federal budget goes toward children The share of federal spending on children has declined precipitously…
Just 8.43% of the federal budget goes toward children The share of federal spending on children has declined precipitously…
First Focus on Children joined more than 500 national, state, tribal, and local organizations in urging the Department of…
For more than 15 years, First Focus on Children has produced our annual Children’s Budget, an analysis of the funding — and therefore the value — that we as a nation place on our children. The Children’s Budget offers U.S. leaders and lawmakers a comprehensive picture of where and how we spend our money on children, and what changes we must make to better prioritize them in federal budget and policy decisions.
